The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara

An extraordinary book, a fast-paced retelling of the Battle of Gettysburg from the viewpoint of officers on both sides. Special attention ig given the confederate officers, the losers at Gettysburg.

The characterization is excellent. The design of the novel well thought out and planned. The attention to detail immerses the reader in the period.

I can't think of anything to criticize, unless it is the lack of "ordinary" characters. There are no enlisted men used as viewpoint characters, a contrast with "The Red Badge of Courage."

Pulitzer Reading Project

My reading project is progressing well. I have read about fifteen of the pulitzer winners now, and the flavor of the winners is clear - Americana. Makes sense, since the award is for "distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life."

The works I have read so far cover a wide range of the American experience. From the Civil War and slavery to Greek hermaphrodites. Tales of immigrant families seem to predominate so far.

The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields

An excellent, engrossing book. It really pulled me along, spinning out the history of Daisy Goodwill in a new, refreshing way.

I admit I was confused in the beginning a few times, when she seemed to vacillate between third person and first person. She didn't really do that again until the very end. Write whatever you want, break all the rules, as long as it works - isn't that the advice Steve Berry gave me? I guess Carol Shields followed that advice - I can imagine her getting critiqued by some of the instructors I have had lately. They would ruin her book.

The other question I have is - was Daisy a real person or not? I wouldn't even ask the question if there weren't pictures of the family in the middle of the book. If she is fictional, the photos are a nice touch!

Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer

An excellent novel, seemingly simple on the surface, but complex within. A lot like the "hotels" that Dressler builds in New York. Written like a fairy tale, full of symbolism, and fun to read.

Algonkian class - final wrapup

I'm glad it's over. I have a low tolerance for classes that are not run in a professional, businesslike manner. I certainly didn't get out of it what I had hoped.

Here's the critique of the class I posted on their forum:

Good things about the class:

1) Kaley was very helpful and also very patient in putting up with my complaints.
2) I enjoyed the analysis of the professional stories as well as my own story.
And my complaints:
1) The class started a week late. I had planned my vacation around the class, since I was taking it seriously. We got about four days notice that the class was postponed a week, and no explanation. Not a good start.
2) The lecture material needs a good editor. There was good content, but it was sometimes difficult to understand. Everything seemed to have been slapped together hastily.
3) Comments from the students were ridiculed and discouraged. This happened early in the course, even though we had been instructed to comment on other student’s work. This effectively shut down an important part of the course for me.
4) Emphasis is on analyzing stories, not writing stories. I enjoyed the analysis, it was the best thing about the class. There was not enough writing – there should have been two or three times as many writing exercises, and we should have finished a draft of the story. I can only speak for myself, but I wasn't overworked.
5) I had to beg to get a draft of my story read. The instructor, Kaley, took pity on me and several other students and reviewed our stories. A bright spot in the class, at least Kaley seemed to understand what we wanted and needed. Our final assignment, for an actual journal editor to review, was to present only a synopsis and the opening. That was all, after ten weeks of class.
6) The instructor only commented on work and answered questions early in the week. If you have a question on Friday or Saturday, when you are working on your submission for Sunday, forget about it. How much more work would it be to check messages once a day and respond?
7) Since the class started a week late, it finished a week late. Our instructor has another commitment the last week of class. I've had to change plans of my own. Is this the paying student's fault?
8 And lastly, the comments from Michael, public and private, are unprofessional. The customer should be treated with respect. I wish I could submit this anonymously. Why am I even bothering?

I won't go into the comments from Michael that prompted #8 - they weren't directed at me initially, but were public, and I complained in a private message to him. I received his wrath. That doesn't work on me, and certainly doesn't scare me away, which seemed to be his intention. He seemed to be intent on ridiculing his customers until they quit - an odd way to run a business. It was sophmoric.
I did get a more polite tone from Michael after I posted my critique of the class, and even an offer of a partial refund because of the week delay in the class. I didn't take it. The offer of a refund should have been made before the class started, at any rate, not after I was a dissatisfied customer.
Other class members had a good experience and enjoyed the class, but I can't recommend it.
Final, final update: I got the much-touted review of the beginning of my story by the visiting Editor. I suppose, since he had so little to work with, it was OK. Was it helpful to me in improving my story? Not really. How can he be helpful without seeing the whole thing? He contradicted what I had been told by the class instructor. Since I am used to getting critiques that are contradictive, that doesn't surprise me.
Of course he said, "Without seeing more of the story...". Well, duh! I successfully resisted the temptation to respond that I would have been glad to show him the whole story, if only I had been allowed to. I'm closing the book on this one.

American Pastoral by Philip Roth

All through this book I was thinking how similar in style it is to Faulkner's "Absalom, Absalom!". It's a long nightmare, about a 40 weight Faulkner. Where Absalom is 90 weight gear oil, and "The Sound and the Fury" is about 60 weight. Long paragraphs, rants and raves, all told by a narrator who wasn't there and didn't know what really happened. Uncanny how similar that is to Absalom.
But he doesn't have Faulkner's vocabulary, and his writing is fairly easy to understand. That's not to say the novel is easy to read. I like some plot, and the loose ends are never tied up in this novel. It's character driven, of course. We know the ending in the beginning of the novel, so that's not as bad as it sounds, but it would have been so much more satisfying if he had wrapped it up in the end. It is consistent, though, all the way through, and well written.

It's also "telling, not showing", all the way. Incredible amounts of navel gazing - I had to skim. And the narrator never makes an appearence at the end, after being so very important in the beginning - that was strange.

Royal Deluxe Typewriter

A new typewriter and photo on the blog. Laurie picked this one up for me at a local flea market. It's a Royal Deluxe, probably from the late 30s or early 40s. I cleaned it up a little, bought some ribbons, and it types great!

I know it's strange, but I like doing a first draft on the typewriter. I set up the tab to produce the paragraph indent, set the carriage return to double space, and go. It is relaxing not to worry about anything except the ding of the bell.

I can actually type faster than the little machine can keep up. Combinations like "er" and "th" produce jammed keys. Too many years of "keyboarding" have made my speed irregular. Proper typewriter technigue is to hit the keys with a steady rhythm - no bursts of speed allowed.
It's a lot of fun to spew out that first draft, keys clicking away, story appearing as if by magic on the printed page. The irregular type is also appealing, a sharp contrast to the computer-perfect printout.

Once the first draft is done, I mark it up with a red pen and type it into the computer. Call it a draft-and-a-half.

Algonkian week #10

Almost time to move on. To say that this class was a disappointment is an understatement. After it's all over (next week?) I'll produce a lengthy blog entry with my review of the class. My current complaint is that the last week covers no new material, and we have unclear instructions about how to get our promised review by a short story magazine editor. This too shall pass.

What next? I have about twenty stories waiting on my hard disk. About the only good plan is to work them over and make them as good as I can, then start submitting them around.

The Hours by Michael Cunningham

Can't give an opinion because I couldn't get past the first chapter. Too smarmy, snarky, New Yorker for me. Exactly the type of fiction I don't like. The prologue was OK (a suicide), which got my hopes up. The first chapter killed my enthusiasm with its neurotic fretting.

Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

A wonderful book of short stories, the winner of the 2000 Pulitzer for fiction. They are not difficult to read or understand. The "over-the-top" images are minimal. In fact, I think they are plainly written, but insightful. Only occasionally over-sentimental. I hear she has a novel coming out in the fall that is being made into a movie.

Slaves in the Family by Edward Ball

A must read for a Southerner, white or black. I have wondered many times if my family were involved in slavery, or owned or sold slaves. My family history is so hidden I will probably never find out. Edward Ball had the opportunity to research, and was blessed with ancestors that documented everything. He examines the lives of his ancestors, the people they enslaved, and their descendants.
Also an excellent source for kernels of inspiration for stories and novels. Truth is so much stranger than fiction - you just can't make this stuff up!

GWA Meeting

I attended a GWA meeting today and for the first time was disappointed. They had lined up a writer to talk about his publishing errors. I won't name him, but he was uninspiring and his talk was too short. I drove 90 minutes to hear some guy mumble for 15 minutes and then sit down? What a waste of time.

Of course you never now beforehand what the meeting will be like. It was at a GWA meeting where I head Steve Berry talk - that was absolutely wonderful.

Algonkian Week #9

This week we recapped and revisited the rationale for our stories. It is their contention that, for short fiction to be publishable, it has to have these basics:

• an original story


• a very good hook


• a sympathetic major character


• a defined complication with catalyst


• minor complications


• a suitable resolution

Nothing earth-shattering about that. It can be quite difficult to apply those criteria to some published stories (try!), but I agree that if my story fits those criteria it has a better chance of being published.

I submitted my first draft for critique, even though it is not part of the class, as I have mentioned earlier. Hopefully some of my fellow students will read and comment, and possible one of the instructors.

The Moviegoer by Walker Percy

A break from my pulitzer novel marathon, while waiting for another shipment of used books. This is a National Book Award winner. I'm not sure what to think of this book, much as the protagonist is not sure what to make of the world. It is well written, with appropriate and illuminating descriptions. The "search" of the protagonist for meaning in his life pulls us along instead of a traditional plot. Sometimes it is very grim. I like dark novels, but this is not dark so much as depressing.

The protagonist is a stoic or possibly an existentalist. The novel doesn't preach though, not like the more recent "A Man In Full", which I didn't really care for. I'm not a philosopher, but I can certainly identify with the protagonist's search - I think anyone would.

The style reminds me a lot of Fitzgerald's "Great Gatsby". Much is told through dialogue and a minimum of action. You have to pay attention! If there were only a little plot, like "Gatsby", this might be a more well known novel now.

And if you think you are not affected by what you read, after I finished this novel I was in a funk the rest of the day. I'm surprised the author was able to write this novel and not be so affected by it that he abandoned writing it!

Algonkian Class Week 8

I am not too happy with the class at this moment in time. The editors seem to be focused on confining our efforts to the opening of a short story. Can I spend ten weeks working on an opening? Not and be happy about it. Not and pay hundreds of dollars for the privilege.

What's the harm in producing a first draft? In ten weeks of class? Personally I can't plan a story without at least writing a draft. How do I know how to get somplace if I never go there? How do I know I will like where I am going if I don't visit it, or several other alternate places. It makes little sense to me, and in conjunction with my other complaints about the class, is leaving me very sour on the whole experience.

Empire Falls by Richard Russo

This book is slow to build. It almost put me to sleep in the prologue and the first chapter. If I had had anything else to read I probably would have set it aside. But once I got about halfway through I realized I had to finish it.

The problem is absence of plot, which seems almost a pre-requisite for winning the pulitzer. The book is character driven. Half of it is dialogue, and the other half "character introspection" - at least it seems that way to me. The characters were not interesting at first, and neither was the subject matter. It took a long time and many pages before I developed any interest.

Russo is a master at characterization, though, and taking Faulkner's advice, I could learn a lot by studying this book's techniques. Only at the end of the book do things pick up a little and the many lives start to come together with some tension and movement.